Ninjago: 31 Day Challenge
by Fires of Darkness
Summary: Basically just different prompts for each day, and a few friends writing about them.
1. Dream

**Because writing at 10pm is **_**such**_** a great idea when you have school at 7:30 the following day…**

**Anyway, my friends and I have agreed to start a 31 day Ninjago challenge! Ethereal Pictures will be posting hers, but not Orange Energy (I don't think.) I found the words on Tumblr somewhere, so… can't exactly give credit. It was originally 30 days long, but we realized that one important theme was missing! And so it became 31. **

**Each day is one or two words, with which we have to write a one shot.**

**CAUTION: SEASON 10 SPOILERS INCOMING**

* * *

**Dream**

It wouldn't ever last long, but it was so insanely vivid. The sheer horror etched into Jay's face as Cole plunged further into the darkness will haunt his memory forever.

Well, at least until he wakes up.

'_Just a dream,_' Cole told himself each morning, '_Just a stupid dream._' It was just his imagination going haywire. There's nothing to worry about. Besides, today was the day the ninja get their new ship. What could possibly go wrong?

All of Cole's fears were in his head. Nightmares plagued him during the night, but that didn't mean they were real.

How very wrong he was.

Cole's first hint at things not quite being as they seem was when Faith and Firstborne came tumbling out of the sky. Lloyd had mentioned the darkness was coming, and multiple red flags sprang up in his mind. Darkness. Like what he fell into in his dream.

Cole brushed it off as pure coincidence. Then again, Zane had once had a prophetic dream. What if it was real?

The darkness was very real. It had begun to spread throughout Ninjago City. Elemental powers seemed to have no effect on it. Tentacles reached out from the centre like snakes. The ninja had attempted to retreat, but Cole felt something colder than ice grab his ankle and pull him back. _'This isn't it, this isn't it, the Bounty isn't in the right spot,' _Cole kept telling himself, trying to calm down.

He had been rescued by Lloyd. And thank goodness for that. The darkness probably would have swallowed him whole, killing him in an instant. _'Just like the dream.'_

Despite his logical thought telling him that it didn't mean anything, Cole stayed on red alert after they picked up Garmadon from the prison. He didn't want anything like his dream happening, especially not by the hands of an Oni. He'd have to be extra careful around him.

And then Garmadon pressed the button that shuts off the rocket boosters. They were falling, falling, further and further towards the ground. The cold wind made his cheeks feel numb, and Cole felt at any moment his hands would slip and he would land on the ground, flat as a pancake. The ground was coming closer, and closer, and just as Cole began to see his life flash before his eyes, Zane pulled the ship upright again.

"Hm, that button should be labelled."

'_How about you go screw off, Garmadon?'_

Once the ship had been put back in order, Cole found Kai and Jay discussing Nya. More specifically, Jay asking her to be his Yang. Cole was on board with the idea straight away, and could already see the two of them together, holding hands after a well-earned victory. Although still a little disappointed that he was the only ninja without a partner, Cole still did his best to be happy for the two of them.

Just then, Zane called everyone to the Bridge. Garmadon explained that destroying the Realm Crystal will stop the Oni from taking over all of Ninjago. Only problem being that the Crystal was underneath Borg Tower, which just so happened to be surrounded by darkness. _'I'm not going anywhere _near_ that cloud again!' _Cole thought to himself, shivering just at the thought of the chills that had run throughout his body when the tentacles had grabbed him.

Lloyd and Garmadon agreed to travel into the cloud, and after a brief conflict during which Garmadon regained his powers, they set on their way. Since he was part Oni, Lloyd could survive within the cloud, although just barely.

Cole watched the monitor closely, careful not to miss even the slightest detail, before they picked up a distress signal from NGTV. After a quick discussion on who should stay where, the Bounty left for the distress signal, leaving Pixal alone to wait for the Garmadons.

It was when Cole and Jay were on the rooftop when the former noticed something. The position of the Bounty, the size of the NGTV tower, the level of the cloud of darkness, it all lined up _exactly_ with his dream. Down to the last tendrils of darkness. Cole began to grow freaked out, but again shrugged it off as a huge coincidence.

The broadcaster lady mentioned something about a huge story, but Cole wasn't paying attention. He was watching the tentacles crawling up the building, onto the roof. They were coming for him.

They were coming for _him_.

Once all the civilians were aboard the Bounty, Cole and Jay began climbing the ladders to get the heck out of there. Nya fired up the boosters. They turned-

They turned the wrong direction. The boosters were now facing Cole. _'Not good, not good, not good! Please don't fire, please don't-'_

They fired.

Cole was immediately thrown into the air, just like in his dream. The ladder was there, right _there_, just in front of him, yet just out of reach. He was gonna die, he was gonna die.

The earth master grabbed hold of the last rung and attempted to hoist himself upward. However, the ladder swung back towards the building, which Cole's back rammed against full force. Cole could've sworn he heard something snap. Icy hot pain shot up from his chest outward, like being torn apart from the inside out. Cole could barely hear Jay yell his name among all the pain of broken ribs.

His hand slipped, but he had been holding on with his legs. Dangling upside down, he saw the tentacles circling about underneath him, as if waiting to feast.

As if one whack with a wall hadn't been enough (which Cole thought it was more than necessary), the Bounty headed forwards again, smashing him against the wall three more times. "Hang on, Cole!" Jay shouted , pausing on the ladder.

Cole reached up with his hand. Clasping the rope, he yelled back, "I got it! I got-"

It was only then that he noticed the snap in the ladder. Perfect timing, really. Just as the other side snapped.

"Cole!"

* * *

"_But daddy! I don't wanna be a dancer! I wanna be a policeman!"_

"_You can't be in the police. You're so good at dancing, and I want you to follow right in daddy's footsteps."_

* * *

"_That mountain. There. Let's test our limits, shall we?"_

* * *

"_Did you know that I actually want to be in the police force?"_

"_Oh my gosh, really? Pfft, you, a cop?"_

"_Hey, technically we're part of the police force."_

"_The unrecognized police force, more like."_

"_That doesn't get paid."_

"_And wears weird uniforms."_

"_Sounds like a ninja to me!"_

* * *

The last thing Cole felt physically was cold.

Emotionally, it was pride.

He was proud at how far he had come.

The friends he had made.

And the dreams he had accomplished.


	2. Lock

**Ahaha, really didn't plan this out, did we? I totally had no time at all to write. And I wasted my whole day of free time watching anime… excellent work on my part there.**

* * *

**Lock**

Spring cleaning. Always an important time on the Bounty, especially considering the shared tendency to pile up useless junk. The spare room, in particular, was cramped this year. That was where the ninja were spending the most time.

"Kai, why is your blood hoodie in here?"

"Hm?" Kai looked up from inspecting an old box of snowglobes to stare at Jay, who had his arm outstretched and was pinching a dark mahogany heap of fabric with two fingers. The fire ninja sat still for a moment before lunging up and taking the zippered hoodie. "Oh, so _that's_ where it went!" He stared at it for a moment before he registered what Jay said. "Hey, I said it so many times before and I'll say it again: it does _not_ look like blood!"

"It so does!"

Cole's head peeked in the doorway. "What are you guys talking about? You're supposed to be cleaning up."

"Yes, mom!" Kai and Jay said in unison, before smirking to each other. Cole sighed and headed back down the hallway to the boys' room, shaking his head. Sharing one last look of success, Kai and Jay went back to cleaning.

Not long after, however, Kai found an odd-looking chest tucked away between old weapons and, he shuddered just at the thought, strings of _Christmas lights_. It was locked with a simple padlock, but Kai had never educated himself on how to pick a lock, saying it was '_useless if he could chest burn it right off!'_ He began to regret that decision.

"Hey, BlueJay," Kai called to the lightning master at the other end of the room. He got a 'hmph!' in response, meaning that Jay had heard the nickname and did not approve. "Do you have the key to this chest?"

"I don't have any keys, Mockingbird."

"Jay, just come over here and look."

Groaning, Jay stood and made his way around boxes on the floor to Kai, who was still inspecting the chest. With one look, Jay seemed to panic ever so slightly, before calming once again. Kai looked at him suspiciously out of the corner of his eye but said nothing. "I'm not sure," Jay said. "I don't know what could be in there."

"Do you think it could have anything to do with this?" Kai held up a small, cylindrical object with five dials around it. There were multiple letters written on the dials.

Jay quickly snatched the object from Kai's hands. "Whoa, is this a cryptex?" Jay turned it over in his hands, examining it from every angle. "This is so cool! What do you think the password is?"

"Whoa, hold up." Kai took the cryptex back from Jay's hands. "I don't even know what this thing is."

"It's a cryptex." Jay started. "A while back a writer made the term for one of his works. It traditionally is used to contain another clue for a quest. I think it could have something to do with the chest." Jay paused a moment before continuing. "You won't be able to figure out the password, though."

"Why not?"

"I don't think you're smart enough."

It was exactly one punch later when Jay apologized.

"Look, guys," Cole's voice echoed from the hallway, "I thought I told you guys to get to work."

"But Cole!" Jay yelled back, "We found a cryptex!"

It must have been 1.7 seconds later before Cole was holding the cryptex and was going through the same steps Jay was. "This is super nerdy," he spoke softly. "When did you make this, Jay?"

"Never," Jay spoke quickly. "I've never even seen one in person before."

"Suuure," Kai said skeptically. "Like this totally isn't a thing that you would make in your free time."

Jay crossed his arms as Zane walked into the room. "Am I missing something?"

"Nope." Jay replied quickly.

"Wait wait wait," Kai smirked. "Zane, you're good at problem-solving, right?" Jay's eyes grew wide with shock as Zane sat down beside Kai.

"Correct. It appears you have a cryptex." Zane observed. Kai nodded. "Let me take note of the letters on the dials." Kai handed the cryptex over to Zane as Cole made some wild guesses.

"Nerdy."

"I looked at the letters, Cole, and I'm pretty sure that there wasn't an 'n' on the first dial."

"Dorky."

"There wasn't a 'd' either."

Jay snickered. Kai glared at him. "Shut up."

"Sheep."

Kai turned his head to glare at Cole this time. "Okay, now you're just being ridiculous-"

"Actually," Zane interuppted, "That could be a possibility. Everything works."

"Oh." Kai paused for a moment. "Well, in that case, go for it!"

Zane spun the dials for a few seconds while Jay's face slowly turned red. An audible 'click' echoed throughout the room a few moments later. Zane opened the cryptex and shook out a small key. Kai quickly snatched it from his hand and rushed over to the opened it and immideately began laughing.

"Oh my gosh, Jay, are these _yours_?"

The rest of the ninja team peered into the trunk and burst out in laughter, save Jay, who now looked as though he could blend in with a family of tomatoes. "Holy crap, Jay." Cole spoke in between giggles. "How many stuffies did you own?"

It was true: the trunk was crammed full of everything from tiger plushes to teddy bears. "Bu-I-You-" Jay sputtered, before finally saying, "You weren't supposed to see this!" He stormed out of the room, still blushing beet red.

This was a moment that the ninja team could never afford to forget.


	3. Bitterness

**Bitterness**

"Why is it Cole's night to cook _again_?!"

Cole glared at Jay. "Bold talk for someone who burnt the lasagna last night."

"H-Hey! That was uncalled for!"

Kai walked into the kitchen and leaned on the doorframe. "To be fair, you walked straight into that." Jay crossed his arms and looked away. "So, Cole, what's for dessert tonight? It had better be something to wash down your duck chowder I know you're gonna make."

"Whoa whoa whoa, it doesn't taste _that _bad!" Cole attempted to argue. Kai and Jay stared at them. Giving one last pleading look, Cole finally gave in. "Fine, maybe it does. And I'm making a fruit salad for dessert."

Jay and Kai smiled. "Well, you can't exactly screw up fruit salad, can't you?" Kai said.

Jay turned to face Kai. "Ahaha, don't you remember when you burnt all the apples? _Every one_?"

"Shut up before I burn _you_!"

"Kai, don't make death threats on the Bounty!" Zane's voice rang out from across the ship, before he came into the kitchen himself. "And Cole," he spoke softly to the raven-haired, "I don't know what you do to your chowder, but please try not to make it the same consistency as glue."

Cole threw his arms up in the air. "Why is everyone attacking _me_?!"

"Because you absolutely suck at cooking?" Jay suggested. Glaring at the lightning master, Cole returned to his 'chowder.'

* * *

"Thank FSM today Cole actually made something _edible_!" Jay remarked, pushing away the finished bowl.

Kai, however, shoved away a serving that had only two bites taken out of it. "Yet it still managed to taste worse than his average, which is saying something."

"Agreed," Nya responded, getting up to help Cole with serving dessert. Not that Cole needs help. It's only putting cubed fruit into bowls. Not that difficult.

The ninja sat in silence around the table for a few minutes before dessert was served. It wasn't that fancy; just some small bowls with fruit in them. However, Jay didn't care how it looked. He just wanted something to wash down that 'chowder.' Jay stabbed an apple and orange with his fork and popped them into his mouth.

Immediately, Jay leapt out of his chair and ran to the kitchen for some water.

The lightning master wasn't the only one to react. Kai took one bite of a strawberry and yelled, "Eugh! What the _fuck_, Cole?! Is this even ripe? It's sour!"

"It is indeed quite bitter." Zane backed Kai up.

"Come on, it can't be _that_ bad." Cole took a bite of apple. He grimaced. "Huh, so it can."

Kai turned to face Cole. "I take it back. Only you can screw up fruit salad."

"Don't forget the apples!"

"Shut it Jay!"

**Ahhhh this was such a short chapter I'm sorry! I just had a hard time thinking of dialogue for this idea. Hopefully the next word will be better. *checks word***

**Oh yeah, I've got some ideas...**


	4. Photograph

**Photograph**

'_Ninjago's most lovable ninja…'_

Jay reflected on the show earlier today. It wasn't the best he had ever hosted; not by a long shot. Then again, he rarely ever had a contestant that actually seemed to possess the skills required to be a ninja.

Glancing around his dressing room, Jay's eyes landed on a small object on one of the tables. His heart immediately began to ache as he stepped over and picked up the photo.

"There's no doubt it was you, Zane."

Jay stared at the group photo of the team before the situation with the Overlord. They were kids back then; happy, innocent, naive. It was only a matter of time before they lost one of the team.

Feeling tears welling up behind his eyes, Jay willed himself not to cry.

Because boys don't cry.

Boys don't cry.

Boys don't-

"Hi Jay."

Jay yelped, and not a second later, the unmistakable sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the room. Looking down at his feet, Jay saw the photo with a shard of glass straight through Zane's heart. His reflection seemed to appear on every piece of glass.

"Sorry."

The lightning master felt tears beginning to prick at the corners of his eyes.

Boys don't cry.

Boys don't cry.

Screw the stereotype.

Soon Jay was curled up against the desk, sobbing. Lloyd couldn't think of anything to comfort him, instead deciding to shed a tear himself. They needed Zane back. The team couldn't go on without him.

Because boys shouldn't cry.

**Rest in peace my sanity. I really hope to make longer chapters but at the same time I just want to get caught up. I guess you'll have to suffer through a bunch more short chapters like this before I find whatever I'm lacking again.**


End file.
